Alright, let’s talk about these watches. I’ve been strapping things to my wrist to track steps and stuff for years now, long before it was super trendy. Eventually, I got curious about the big names everyone talks about: Fitbit, Garmin, and Apple Watch. So, I decided to just try them out myself, one after the other, to see what all the fuss was about.
Starting with Fitbit
I kicked things off with a Fitbit, I think it was one of the Charge models first, then later a Versa. Getting it going was pretty straightforward. Charged it up, downloaded the app on my phone, paired it via Bluetooth. Took maybe ten minutes? The app was clean, easy to figure out. It showed my steps, heart rate, how much I slept. That sleep tracking was actually pretty neat, seemed more detailed than some others I’d used way back when.
What I liked:
- Super easy to use, both the watch and the app.
- Comfortable enough to wear all day and night.
- Sleep tracking felt insightful.
- Battery lasted a good few days, maybe 4-5? Didn’t have to stress about charging it every single night.
What wasn’t great:
- Looked a bit basic, maybe even cheap depending on the model.
- GPS on the models I had either relied on my phone or wasn’t super accurate on its own.
- Felt more like a general wellness tracker than a serious sports watch.
Moving on to Garmin
After a while with Fitbit, I started getting more into running and cycling. I kept hearing other folks talk about Garmin for better GPS and more serious training data. So, I picked up a Garmin Forerunner. Setting this one up felt a bit more involved. More settings on the watch itself, and the Garmin Connect app had WAY more data. It was almost overwhelming at first.
I started using it for runs. The GPS locked on fast and seemed really accurate, mapping my routes perfectly. It gave me tons of stats – pace, cadence, heart rate zones, even stuff like VO2 max estimates and recovery time suggestions. The Body Battery feature was interesting, trying to tell me how much energy I had.
What I liked:
- Excellent GPS performance.
- Loads of data for sports and training. Really deep dive if you want it.
- Battery life was amazing. Could easily go a week or more depending on GPS use.
- Felt rugged and built to last.
What wasn’t great:
- The interface on the watch wasn’t as slick or intuitive as Fitbit or Apple. Lots of button pressing.
- The app could be information overload. Sometimes hard to find what I wanted.
- Smartwatch features were pretty basic compared to others – notifications came through, but interacting wasn’t smooth.
Giving Apple Watch a Go
Then came the Apple Watch. I already had an iPhone, so the integration aspect was tempting. Everyone raves about how seamless it is. I got one, I think it was a Series 6 or 7 at the time. Setup was ridiculously easy, basically just hold it near your iPhone. Bam, done.
Using it day-to-day was very different. It felt less like a fitness tracker and more like a tiny iPhone on my wrist. Apps, messages, calls, Apple Pay – it did all that stuff really well. For fitness, the activity rings (Move, Exercise, Stand) were a good motivator for general daily activity. Tracking workouts was simple, GPS was fine for my runs, maybe not quite as pinpoint accurate as the Garmin seemed, but perfectly adequate.
What I liked:
- Amazing integration with my iPhone. Everything just worked together.
- Great as a general-purpose smartwatch. Apps, notifications, payments were top-notch.
- The interface was smooth and easy to navigate (mostly touch screen).
- Good motivator for staying active throughout the day with the ring system.
What wasn’t great:
- Battery life. This was the killer. Had to charge it every single night, without fail. Sometimes it barely made it through a long day if I used GPS a lot.
- Less detailed fitness data compared to Garmin. Good basics, but not the deep dive for serious training analysis.
- Felt a bit more fragile, worried about scratching the screen.
- Sleep tracking was pretty basic compared to Fitbit.
So, After Using All Three…
It really came down to what I needed most. The Fitbit was simple and good for general health tracking, especially sleep, and had decent battery. If you just want the basics and don’t need hardcore sports features, it’s a solid choice.
The Garmin was the king for serious activity tracking. If you’re a runner, cyclist, triathlete, or just love digging into performance data and want killer battery life, Garmin’s hard to beat. But it’s not the slickest smartwatch.
The Apple Watch was the best smartwatch overall, hands down. If you’re in the Apple ecosystem and want something that does a bit of everything pretty well – communication, apps, payments, plus decent fitness tracking for most people – it’s fantastic. You just have to accept charging it every night.
For me, I ended up sticking with the Garmin for a long time because I valued the sports tracking and battery life most. But honestly, there were times I missed the smooth smartwatch experience of the Apple Watch. There’s no single ‘best’ one, it really depends on what you’re gonna use it for day in, day out. That was my journey trying them all out, anyway.